The American Civil Liberties Union has put Tennessee officials on notice that it intends to sue if they don’t drop a “voter list maintenance program” inquiring about residents’ citizenship status. The ACLU said the missives to 14,375 residents violated the National Voter Registration Act. 

Advocacy groups are demanding Secretary of State Tre Hargett and State Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins cease all actions that “perpetuate voter intimidation” and “violate the U.S. Constitution and federal law.” They also want issuance of a public statement that no one will be removed from Tennessee voter rolls in relation to the June 13 letters. Another element calls on the state to send a new letter to the thousands of previous recipients confirming that their voter registration won’t be purged and that they have the “right to vote as normal.”

And advocates are seeking release of all records related to the development and implementation of the voter list maintenance program.

“If these violations are not remedied forthwith, the ACLU of Tennessee and the ACLU will challenge the voter list maintenance program in court,” the letter said.

In his “notice of violation” letter to the residents, Goins wrote: “Our office has received information that appears to indicate that your voter information matches with an individual  who may not have been a United States citizen at the time of obtaining a Tennessee driver license or ID card.”

Goins’ letter goes on to state: “Under Tennessee Code Annotated 2-19-107, it is illegal for an individual who is not a citizen of the United States to vote in a local, state, or federal election in Tennessee.”

His letter also notes illegal voting is a felony, carrying a potential penalty of “at least two years in jail and a fine of up to $5,000.” It adds: “We need to ensure Tennessee’s voter rolls are correct.” 

Asked by The Tennessee Journal whether his letter was intended to intimidate foreign-born citizens, Goins said it was not. 

“It’s not intimidation,” he said. “It’s a statement of the law. I don’t understand why they’re even saying it’s intimidation, it’s literally a restatement of the law. And it says very clearly, ‘if you’re not a U.S. citizen.’ It didn’t say if you are a U.S. citizen you’re committing a crime. It says if you are not a U.S. citizen, then you cannot vote and it is a felony to vote.”

In 2001, Tennessee lawmakers at the behest of Republican Gov. Don Sundquist’s administration authorized driver’s licenses for people who could not prove citizenship or lawful permanent residence. In 2004, the law was revised to issue certificates rather than licenses to immigrants. The program was abolished in 2006. The rationale behind the driver’s license and certificate programs was that even people in the country illegally should know the rules of the road and be able to obtain car insurance.

In his letter, Goins wrote illegal voting is a felony with a potential criminal penalty of at least two years in jail and fines of up to $5,000.

“We need to ensure Tennessee’s voter rolls are correct,” the letter reads. “If you need to correct your record, please follow these instructions,” going on to provide instructions. It asks if someone is “not a U.S. citizen, place in the envelope the completed form requesting your name be removed from the voter registration list.”

For those who say they are a U.S. citizen who have “evidence of your citizenship” as previously outlined, the letter directs them to use the prepaid non-U.S. citizens provided to them and “please place in the envelope the proof of your citizenship.”

The letter does not specifically state what happens if there is no response.

Goins spoke to the Journal following a regularly scheduled State Election Commission where the issue did not come up. Asked if his office had sent out similar letters in the past, Goins acknowledged it “was the first time that the letter has come from our office.”

Goins said the letters were going out now “because we’re within 90 days of an election.”

“And there’s a federal law that arguably prevents people from being removed from the voter rolls,” he said. “So what we sent was not a ‘purge’ letter. What we sent was a correction of the record letters.”

“But we’re getting into the content of the ACLU’s response,” Goins said in response to a reporter’s additional questions. “There’s attorneys that’s working on this and they’ll be responding to the ACLU, which is normal any time there’s some type of litigation or threat of litigation. And it looks like this is going to go to some type of litigation with the ACLU letter.”

NPR reported last week that U.S. House Republicans have filed legislation to require proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration in federal elections. The article noted about one in 10 adult citizens — or 21.3 million eligible voters — say they either don’t have or could not readily find and quickly show their U.S. birth certificate, passport, naturalization certificate or certificate of citizenship. 

While that could pass the GOP-controlled House, it’s likely doomed in the Senate, which is under Democratic control.

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Tennessee and American Civil Liberties Union Foundation sent its objections to the election letter on behalf of the following groups: the American Muslim Advisory Council of Tennessee, Civic TN, Conexión Americas, the Nashville Branch of the NAACP, Organize TN, Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition, Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors, League of Women Voters Tennessee Chapter and individual voters who received the state’s June 13 correspondence.